Singapore stocks open slightly higher on Monday; STI up 0.1%

SINGAPORE shares rose slightly in early trade on Monday, with sentiment buoyed by overall strong earnings on Wall Street, which saw the S&P 500 notching a sixth straight month of gains in July.

The Straits Times Index (STI) edged up 0.1 per cent or 3.39 points to 3,170.33 as at 9.03am.

Gainers outnumbered losers 99 to 50, after 81.9 million securities worth S$70.5 million changed hands.

Rex International 5WH : 5WH 0%shares were among the most actively traded securities by volume on Monday morning, with 20.4 million shares changing hands as at 9am. The counter rose 4.8 per cent or S$0.01 to S$0.22.

Among index counters, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding BS6 : BS6 0%was one of the top gainers on Monday morning, rising 2.2 per cent or S$0.03 to S$1.40, with 4.9 million shares changing hands as at 9am.

Sembcorp Marine S51 : S51 0%was also among the top five actively traded counters in terms of volume. Its shares were up 1.7 per cent or 0.2 Singapore cent to 11.7 cents with 6.1 million shares traded.

GET BT IN YOUR INBOX DAILY

Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox.

Sign UpVIEW ALL

The trio of local banks were also trading higher on Monday morning. DBS D05 was up 0.5 per cent or S$0.15 to S$30.56, UOB U11 rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$26.30, while OCBC O39 cl : O39 0%imbed 0.3 per cent or S$0.04 to S$12.34 as at 9.03am.

In the US, Wall Street closed lower on Friday as Amazon shares dropped after the company forecast lower sales growth.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.4 per cent or 149.06 points to 34,935.47, the broad-based S&P 500 lost 0.5 per cent or 23.89 points to 4,395.26, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.7 per cent or 105.59 points to 14,672.68.

European shares slipped from record highs on Friday as concerns about the fast-spreading Delta variant and regulatory actions in China outweighed optimism around the quarterly earnings season and an economic recovery. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index fell 0.5 per cent to 461.74.

Elsewhere in Asia, Tokyo stocks opened higher on Monday in cautious trade, with investors eyeing corporate earnings due this week.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.8 per cent or 221.02 points to 27,504.61 in early trade, while the broader Topix index rose 0.9 per cent or 16.78 points to 1,917.86.